US-20260125987-A1 - AIR TURBINE STARTER CONTAINMENT SYSTEM

Abstract

An air turbine starter for starting an engine, comprising a housing having an interior surface defining an interior, at least one turbine member rotatably mounted within the interior about a rotational axis, and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades, and a containment structure radially overlying and circumferentially surrounding the at least one turbine member extending between an outer surface and an inner surface to define a radial direction.

Inventors

• Subrata Nayak
• David Allan DRANSCHAK
• Marc David Zinger
• Shiloh Montegomery Meyers
• Jasraj Asdev
• Sharad Pundlik Patil
• Sagar Paramashivaiah
• David Raju Yamarthi

Assignees

• UNISON INDUSTRIES, LLC

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241030

Priority Date

20200326

Claims (20)

1. 1 . An air turbine starter for starting an engine, the air turbine starter comprising: a housing having an interior surface defining an interior; at least one turbine member rotatably mounted within the interior about an axis of rotation and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades; a containment structure separate from the housing, radially covering and circumferentially surrounding the at least one turbine member, the containment structure extending between an outer surface and an inner surface to define a radial direction, the inner surface opposing a respective portion of the at least one turbine member, and the containment structure having at least one circumferential groove disposed along the inner surface; and at least one pre-stressed spring via which the containment structure is held in place within the housing, wherein: during normal operation of the air turbine starter the containment structure is configured to float against frictional resistance provided by the at least one spring, and during impact along the containment structure of a loose component from the at least one turbine member, the containment structure becomes unseated and is free to rotate.
2. 2 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferential groove is a plurality of circumferential grooves.
3. 3 . The air turbine starter of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of circumferential grooves have various radial depths.
4. 4 . The air turbine starter of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of circumferential grooves form a symmetrical pattern in a radial cross-section of the containment structure.
5. 5 . The air turbine starter of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of circumferential grooves are formed by ribs of the containment structure.
6. 6 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , wherein the containment structure has a radial cross-section and the at least one circumferential groove is a symmetrical groove having a symmetrical shape in the radial cross-section.
7. 7 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , wherein the containment structure has a radial cross-section and the at least one circumferential groove is an asymmetric groove having an asymmetric shape in the radial cross-section.
8. 8 . The air turbine starter of claim 7 , wherein the at least one circumferential groove is a plurality of circumferential grooves, each circumferential groove including a plurality of asymmetric grooves and at least one symmetric groove, wherein the symmetric grooves each have a symmetric shape in the radial cross-section.
9. 9 . The air turbine starter of claim 8 , wherein the at least one symmetrical groove is located in a center of a radial cross section of the containment structure and forms a symmetrical pattern in the radial cross section with the plurality of asymmetrical grooves.
10. 10 . The air turbine starter of claim 7 , wherein the outer surface includes an arcuate shape.
11. 11 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , wherein the at least one circumferential groove is a plurality of circumferential grooves defining ribs between sequential grooves.
12. 12 . The air turbine starter of claim 11 , wherein the ribs are made of a different material than a remainder of the containment structure.
13. 13 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , further comprising at least one layer of shape memory alloy extending circumferentially along at least a portion of the containment structure.
14. 14 . The air turbine starter of claim 1 , wherein the outer surface is spaced apart from the inner surface of the housing to define a clearance distance and the inner surface faces the plurality of circumferentially spaced apart blades.
15. 15 . A method of forming a containment structure for an air turbine starter according to claim 1 , the method comprising forming a containment structure having an outer surface and an inner surface, and forming at least one circumferential groove in the inner surface.
16. 16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein forming the at least one circumferential groove further comprises forming a plurality of circumferential grooves.
17. 17 . The method of claim 16 , further including forming at least one symmetrical groove defining a symmetrical shape in a radial cross-section of the containment structure.
18. 18 . The method of claim 17 , further including forming at least one asymmetric groove defining an asymmetric shape in the radial cross-section.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , further including forming the at least one symmetrical groove at a central location of the radial cross-section and forming a plurality of asymmetrical grooves on either side of the at least one symmetrical groove to form a symmetrical pattern.
20. 20 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising forming at least one layer of shape memory alloy along at least one of the outer surface or the inner surface.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/206,718, filed Mar. 19, 2021, now allowed, which claims priority to India Provisional Application No. 202011013217, filed Mar. 26, 2020, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The disclosure generally relates to a containment system for rotating components, specifically for a containment system surrounding a turbine rotor in an air turbine starter. BACKGROUND An aircraft engine, for example a gas turbine engine, is engaged in regular operation to an air turbine starter. The air turbine starter (ATS) can be used to initiate the rotation of the combustion engine. The ATS is often mounted near the engine and can be coupled to a high-pressure fluid source, such as compressed air, which impinges upon a turbine rotor in the ATS causing it to rotate at a relatively high rate of speed. The ATS includes an output shaft that is coupled to the turbine rotor, typically through a reducing gear box, to the engine. The output shaft thus rotates with the turbine wheel. This rotation in turn causes a rotatable element of the combustion engine (e.g. the crankshaft or the rotatable shaft) to begin rotating. The rotation by the ATS continues until the combustion engine attains a self-sustaining operating rotational speed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned through practice of the invention. In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to an air turbine starter for starting an engine, comprising a housing having an interior surface defining an interior, at least one turbine member rotatably mounted within the interior about a rotational axis, and having a plurality of circumferentially spaced blades, and a containment structure radially overlying and circumferentially surrounding the at least one turbine member extending between an outer surface and an inner surface to define a radial direction and having at least one circumferential groove provided in the inner surface. Another aspect the present disclosure relates to a method of forming a containment structure for an air turbine starter, the method comprising forming the containment structure with an outer surface and an inner surface, and forming at least one circumferential groove in the inner surface. These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. A full and enabling disclosure of the present invention, including the best mode thereof, directed to one of ordinary skill in the art, is set forth in the specification, which makes reference to the appended figures in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a turbine engine with an accessory gearbox and an air turbine starter in accordance with various aspects described herein. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary air turbine starter that can be included in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view a portion of the air turbine starter of FIG. 2 including a containment system. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a containment band for the containment system of FIG. 3 according to an aspect of the disclosure herein. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a containment band for the containment system of FIG. 3 according to another aspect of the disclosure herein. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a containment band for the containment system of FIG. 3 according to another aspect of the disclosure herein. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a containment band for the containment band of FIG. 3 according to yet another aspect of the disclosure herein. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the containment band of FIG. 7 along line VIII. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Aspects of the present disclosure are directed to a turbine engine with an air turbine starter that includes a containment structure for retaining, containing, or otherwise reducing the expulsion of ATS components. While the examples described herein are directed to application of a turbine engine and a starter, the disclosure can be applied to any implementation of a driving mechanism that generates rotational motion at a driving output and provides the rotational motion to another piece of rotating equipment. For purposes of illustration, the present disclosure will be described with respect to a starter for an aircraft turbine engine, however, the starter can have various applications including starting a gas turbine engine. The containment structure as described herein surrounds the turbine rotor and is configu